Revelations
by The Wanlorn
Summary: What happens when Drizzt decides it's time to move on?


**Revelations**

Disclaimer: Obviously, the only thing that's mine is the plot.  If you don't know that, you need help.  And if you think I'm making money off this shit, you need to be put in some sort of psychiatric hospital.

Drizzt stood atop Bruenor's climb, facing the sunrise.  He was moving on, leaving his friends behind.  His wanderer's spirit had finally caught up with him, forcing him to leave - no, that wasn't it.  He couldn't lie to himself.  He was leaving because of Catti-brie.  Well, not exactly because of her, but his reason still had to do with her.  He couldn't in good conscience stay here.  He loved Catti-brie, and she loved him, but he doubted anything would ever come of it.  Yet, they were both waiting, waiting for something miraculous to happen.   Drizzt wondered how soon Catti-brie would have been married to someone else, some human, if he weren't there.  She didn't have the time he had, humans aged so fast.  She deserved so much more, so much better.  And what had he to offer her but himself and his scimitars?  He had not real worth on the surface - any children they had would go through hell growing up - and Catti-brie certainly didn't need his scimitars.  So, he was leaving, because of feelings and emotions he couldn't even describe.

            Drizzt was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of soft footsteps coming up behind him.  The only human he knew who walked that softly was Catti-brie.  Drizzt silently cursed himself for putting off leaving for so long.  He had hoped to avoid saying goodbye to anyone.  He had left a note on his bed, explaining his absence, attributing it to a "wandering spirit".

            "Are ye really leaving?"

            Drizzt nodded his head as he turned around to face the girl - no, a girl no longer, not for a long time, but a young woman.

            "Why?"

            "It seems wrong to me to stay in one place for too long."

            "That's a lie an' ye know it."

            "No, Catti-brie, it's not."  He cursed himself again.  She always knew when he was lying, even when he was lying to himself.  He should have known she wouldn't believe that excuse.

            "It's because of me, isn't it," she said quietly.

            "No," Drizzt said simply.

            "That's another lie," Catti-brie said, turning away.  She cupped her elbows in her hands to hide her trembling.

            Drizzt didn't know what to do.  She had never looked so brittle, so fragile and ready to break.  Catti-brie made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a sob.  Drizzt heard her say, so quiet that he could barely hear it, even with his elven hearing, "Dear gods, why is he doing this to me?  I already lost Wulfgar, not Drizzt, too."

            Now he felt really bad, really guilty about doing this.  "Catti-brie…"

            She didn't let him finish.  "Please, please, please don't leave," she pleaded with him softly.  "I'll do anything you want, just don't leave."

            Those were words Drizzt thought he would never hear out of Catti-brie's mouth, not ever in a million lifetimes.  Those five words, 'I'll do anything you want', were the ones that really struck home.  He put a gently hand on her shoulder, turning her around to face him.  He cupped her face in his dark hands, gently brushing away the lone tear that had started to trickle down her face.  
            "If it really means that much to you, I'll stay."

            She stepped back a bit, and his hands dropped to his sides.  "No, if ye really want t' leave, then go.  I'll not be th' one t' stop ye."  Her hand briefly touched the side of his face, white on black, then she turned to go, walking dejectedly away from him.  

Drizzt couldn't let her go like that.  "Catti-brie…" She stopped but didn't turn around.  "How… How long ago would you have been happily married with children if I weren't here."

She did turn to face him at that, and he could see the twin trails of tears down her cheeks glistening in the early morning light.  "I still wouldn't."  Her strong voice belied the tears on her cheeks.  "With ye here, or without, there's no human here I'd ever want t' marry."

"What of Wulfgar?"

"I made th' mistake of lovin' two people at once.  Though I loved ye more, ye weren't making any moves.  Wulfgar did, so…" She spread her hands.  "But I've loved you since before I knew what I was feeling, nothing could ever change that, and nothing could ever make me want to be with anyone else, whether you leave or not.  Ye can't run away from yer feelings forever."  Drizzt could see her cheeks flaming with embarrassment.  "Goodbye, Drizzt," she said softly, sadly, and walked down Bruenor's Climb, leaving him alone to think.

By all the gods, how did she know he was running from his feelings?  Not even he had know it until she said it.  Sometimes Drizzt thought Catti-brie knew him better than he knew himself.  She was right, though.  He couldn't run from his feelings forever, and if she had been telling the truth, then he really had no reason to leave.

Happier than he had been since making the decision to leave a few tendays ago, Drizzt took the trail back down the Climb.  When the trail split near the bottom, instead of taking the one that would lead out onto the open road, he took the one that lead back to the caves.  He'd go find Catti-brie and make her happy by telling her he was staying.  He heard the soft sounds of crying coming from behind a stand of rocks.  Walking softly behind it, he found Catti-brie, hidden from the road.  She was sitting with her back against a boulder, knees scrunched up to her chest and her face buried in her arms, which her resting across her knees.  She was sobbing - very quietly - into her arms.  Drizzt knelt beside her, putting his arm around her shoulders.  She jumped and leapt up and away, dashing the tears from her face.  Drizzt rose to his feet, stunned at her reaction.

"You're right.  I can't run forever, so I might as well make my home here, where I have friends."

Catti-brie flew into his arms and hugged him so tight he thought his ribs would crack.  Surprised at first - she had just so abruptly jumped away from physical contact with him - he hugged her back.  What she did next shocked him even more.  She pushed him away a little bit - but didn't let go, nor did she let him draw away in the few seconds time - and kissed him, full on the lips.  Once Drizzt got over his surprise, he gladly kissed her back, eyes first flickering to her waist to see if she had on her sword.  Khazid'hea was not there, so he was assured this was real.

When their lips parted and Catti-brie pulled back a bit, she told him, "Don't ye ever try t' leave like that again."

Drizzt nodded mutely in assent, still breathless from the kiss.  If he had known this was all it took to get their relationship started, he would have tried it a long time ago.  Then again, maybe he wouldn't've…

(A/N: This is based on many of my theories about the Drizzt/Catti-brie relationship.  One of them being that it's going to take something like this/near-death experience to get it started, and it'll be Catti-brie who does something, not Drizzt.  He talks too much and second-guess his every move with her.  This took me about 20 minutes to write, so it's not very good.)


End file.
